Wednesday Roundup: Things Happen

Yesterday was a busy, busy day in politics, both statewide and nationally. The 2nd GOP Presidential debate was on in South Carolina, Jerry Falwell died, Keffer and Craddick drew up some battle lines for Republican House Leadership, and the Voter ID bill was blocked from debate.

Let's begin with the GOP debate, in which Mitt Romney got manhandled as a flip-flopper by John McCain, and Ron Paul was beaten like a drum as Giuliani snatched what the pundits are calling the "big TV moment." Paul was drowned in applause for Giuliani as, hackles raised, he demanded that Paul withdraw his comments that 9/11 was a result of American foreign policy in the Middle East. I'm not sure how you withdraw comments during a debate. The Politico story linked above compares it to something you would see on the floor of the House.

Jerry Falwell, founder of the Moral Majority and a main center of gravity in the GOP's conservative Christian wing, died of heart failure yesterday. His influence on American politics was pretty substantial; the New York Times posits that he was to the American Left what Ted Kennedy has been to the American Right. What sort of effect his death has on the 2008 cycle will be of interest on both sides.

State Representative Jim Keffer declared that he will run for Speaker in 2009 against Craddick, as rumors that arose about that very thing happening were being put down.Craddick has also declared that he will run. This has been coming for a few days, but I am very interested to hear of possible plans to oust Craddick before sine die. The Chron has a good story about Craddick's troubles in which they refer to plans some lawmakers have of "trying to depose Craddick," which you have to admit is some highly descriptive language. Next they'll be calling it a coup.

Have you read this story about a dramatic, bedside struggle at a hospital where John Ashcroft actually refused to the give the Bush administration carte blanche for warrantless wiretaps? I am as surprised as you are, but James Comey testifies that it is true. In 2004, Gonzales and Andrew Card tried to get Ashcroft to approve the continuation of domestic surveillance, and FBI Director Mueller and Ashcroft and some other people threatened to resign over the whole deal. I never would have guessed, but maybe to some guys, rules is rules is rules.

Lieutenant General Douglas Lute was selected by President Bush as his "war czar" yesterday, so you can expect all those loose ends to be wrapped up in a few weeks, right? Wrong. This Slate article outlines what's wrong with the war czar idea specifically; of particular interest is the commentary that czars are always given broad mandates and no policy tools to pursue those mandates. It is true — when was the last time a czar appointed by a President actually accomplished anything?

Lastly today (and we may cover this story in greater detail as it develops), debate on the Voter ID bill was blocked yesterday, but it almost wasn't. Democratic state Senator Carlos Uresti was sick, but burned rubber to the Capital when he was told that the wheels might come off without him. Everything ended up on the right side, but Whitmire and Dewhurst got into it before it was over. Anytime the word "expletive" and "Senator" are in the same story, you know things got good.